2246/Earth, Wind, and Space

Earth, Wind, and Space
Date of Scene:	27 June 2020
Location:	East Side
Synopsis:	A meeting of outsiders in celebration.
Cast of Characters:	Meggan Puceanu, Singularity

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Meggan Puceanu has posed:
Summer brings every excuse out to have a barbecue. Throw in some good music, maybe a few prematurely lit fireworks, and the fines from the NYPD are worth it. Especially up on the East River where the fancier consulates give way to block housing still occupied by the descendents of post-war dreamers landing to make a slice of Americana their own. Right now a party is in full swing, choking the streets. A few fireworks and lots of sparklers abound as the music thumps, a swirling chorus of Latin beats mixed with hiphop and Bollywood revels, all of it somehow mingling. The food is even more diverse, Korean and Bangladeshi mixed up with German takes on Turkish, fried chicken, and water. Lots of water, plentiful amounts of pop, and some booze here or there gives the convivial atmosphere flair.

Kids might be in bed, but several of them are still lounging sleepily in lawn chairs while the older ones dance to the music, sharing gossip and swapping selfies. Their parents still man the grills or catch the liveliness of the moment, braving into the street to mingle, to dance, to be.

Exactly the sort of place Meggan finds herself after loitering on a crosstown bus too long. The sounds and the lights pull her in. Something like the small summer festivals back home but so much bigger, so many more faces. Fumes trace the bus chugging valiantly for Brooklyn, but the blonde rather eagerly wanders up the sidewalk, melting into the outer fringes.

Singularity has posed:
    The scene of food, the music, the loud chatter and laughing and dancing, it's more than enough to draw attention, but the fireworks in particular...those create an occasional bloom of color, like a single flare over the party itself. Rarer, considering such things are a bit pricey...but there's always someone who has a few buck and says 'what the hell!' and thankfully doesn't buy firecrackers instead.

    One of those fireworks shoots upwards, a pair of them. One explodes into a reddish flash, crackling as the burning powder falls back to earth.

    The other flies up and up...then intersects with a blue dot barely visible in midair and just..vanishes. "Ah, man, another dud?"

    There's a flash of blue energy and suddenly there's a floating blue girl in an open spot in the party, which causes a few startled words and a general pulling back for a moment. People here who've been around, they're a little leery of glowing people suddenly appearing in the middle of gatherings.

    The girl is rubbing her stomach, her brow creased in a faintly confused frown as she looks around. "Dangerous." she suddenly insists. "Explosions!"

Meggan Puceanu has posed:
Fresh food from a grill or a food truck is worth the effort, and there are more of the former than the latter. People handing out pupusas or fragrant saffron rice laden by some blackened chicken, heavily spiced, call to the soul. A kind of balm there, especially for a girl hungry by now. Meg doesn't just walk up and take anything, sort of wandering through to get her bearings first.

Neighbourly behavoiur in New York is strange, half the time missing and opaque; then it breaks through the cracks out of nowhere. An offering from a laughing woman with grey streaking her hair earns a warranted, "Oh, thank you." British accent, heavy, not the light one of a newscaster, that's Meg through and through. She grins, laughing when that first bite is so spicy on the tongue.

Her head cranes back to see the red flash, splashes of vermillion on the skyline. Wider her smile grows, blossoming in its full magnitude. Children shriek with joy if awake. Sparklers wave, and oohs and ahhs appreciate even one dud. Until blue girl is there, and even better: whee!

"So pretty!" calls out a little boy, putting his hand over his mouth and giggling. His bigger sister might not be so approving, squinting. Those strange responses don't bother the blonde chowing down on the rice in a little styrofoam bowl, though she stops mid-chew to peer at this warning of danger. A hasty swallow, and she replies to Singularity, "Oh! They're supposed to do that, aren't they?"

Singularity has posed:
    The blue girl settles to the ground, her hair shimmering as she moves to face her looking at her curiously. "Explosions?" she says, more questioning now as she looks at Meggan, then at some of the people around her as other people nod, if a little warily. When there seems to be some consensus, she floats up into the air, shooting up maybe thirty feet, before she rotates slightly...before the missing firework comes shooting out of her chest, getting about twenty feet up before it goes off in a burst of blue! Maybe a little lower than usual, but high enough it's more startling than dangerous.

    After that the girl disappears in a blue flash, then reappears to touch down on the ground back in the crowd, as she pulls a smoldering bit of firework out of her hair to look at curiously, then smiles. "Pretty..." she proclaims, nodding to Meggan as she beams at her and the crowd as there's a litle spat of applause.

Meggan Puceanu has posed:
She's -blue-! Yes, that's probably repeated in four or five languages other than English in varying degrees of response: worry, bemusement, disdain, wonder. Blue in all respects, which isn't entirely so odd. At least the Indian couple seem to be charmed, though it helps having actual blue deities portrayed in the cultural milieu and pantheon. For that little boy, it matters not: she's *shiny* and therefore Singularity earns his badge of approval. A sticky hand waving in the air.

Another spark and crackle of the missing firework gets noticed by some of the crowd, not all. Stuffing tummies with good food and enjoying the moment while dancing is too important. There are some distracted cheers when another thing explodes in the sky.

Meggan, though, is watching rapt in all of this. She forgets about the rice stuck to her fingers or the bowl warm in her hands, and laughs as brightly as anyone else. "Just like that. We do it to celebrate, though I'm not sure if this is a holiday or not." Her head tilts, golden hair a banner running off her shoulder that would be the envy of any doll or celebrity. Indigo shards fade away into embers, carried onto the sludgy river in all its toxicity. Not something she wants to think about, head turned away from the vague suggestion of the shore. "Do you know if it's a party?"

Singularity has posed:
    Singularity tilts her head curiously, then smiles at the little boy and waves back cheerfully as she steps closer to Meggan, since she's addressing her directly, peering up at the taller woman. "Party. Is. Good." she says, looking around and seeming to be a mixture of excited and happy over the gathering as she sees more of it. "People. Together. Good." She has a curious way of pausing when she speaks, like she's having to figure out how to squeeze what she's thinking down into a vocalization. "Singularity." she says, pointing to herself, then tilts her head, stepping around to curiously look at that flowing mane of golden hair. "Pretty!" she adds, pointing at the hair.

Meggan Puceanu has posed:
Meggan doesn't take up much space, keeping her elbows tucked to her sides and her stance quite loose. Comfortable, surrounded by people at ease in their own neighbourhood, she doesn't radiate unease. The fact most of the others are distracted from a blue girl full of stars also helps her empathy from going haywire, though some degree of protection halts her from becoming too overwhelmed. "Yes, the party looks like such fun. I don't know many people here, or any actually." Her smile flits back up to a warm cant, the mixture of emotions in response to Singularity rooting her quite well. "You are Singularity? Lovely to meet you. Meggan," she points to herself. That mane is abundant, more than most women her age would have, but not unnaturally so yet. Not until she floats, anyway, and then all bets and measurements are off.

She tilts her head a bit, encouraging. "You can touch it if you want to. Not too hard."

Singularity has posed:
    Singularity practically radiates interest and delight, very straightforward in her emotions. Really, now that she's over the initial concern about explosions happening relatively near people, the party seems to fascinate her as she looks around, bouncing on her toe sa bit. "Meggan. Nice. To meet. You." she says, offering her hand! Because that is what you do when you greet people, or so she's been told. "Don't know. People. But. Want. To know." she says with a smile.

Meggan Puceanu has posed:
Shaking hands is a bit unfamiliar to Meggan, but after an initial moment of transferring the cup to her left hand, she extends the right to take Singularity's. Simple as that, and shaking cannot be so hard, because even the British know the basics of this. A laugh bubbles up to her lips. "So do I. Sometimes getting to know them is tough if you are different, but they're much friendlier here than other places I have lived." Understatement, but her little shrug dismisses the notion with a carefree ease because she refuses to let that weigh either of them down. "I just walked in and they fed me. Might be as easy as joining the dancers if you like. Where are you from? Around here?"

She waves the empty cup east. "I come from Britain. New York's /vast/ compared to what I knew."

Singularity has posed:
    Singularity's hand feels...normal? Warm, with give to it, despite the starts shimmering under her...skin? Surface? "Britain." Singularity says as she seesm to be trying to place it, before she perks. "Big Ben!" she says excitedly, holding out her arms so she's vaguely clock face like! "So big!" Apparently she's a landmark navigator more than anything else. "Yes. Many. Nice people." she agrees, lowering her arms as she looks over at the dancers. "Dancing?" She looks a litlte unsure, then back to Meggan, furrowing her brow as she tries to ponder how to explain this. "Not this here. Other here. Outside this here." she says after a moment.